Faith is so simple as to be seen by a complicated person engulfed by fears, as a pill to large to swallow. Yet to a Child of God, it is seen as the answer to EVERYTHING – a limitless power that enables you to endure anything, accomplish the impossible, and soar to heights only dreamed of by the rest. Yes! Faith IS simple but so darn hard for us “grownups” to grasp.

Called? Heh, that x is marked off already. No sense in visiting the grave. After all “What difference at this point does it make?”
Remember all the FBI files that were found in their “hands”, that they had no right too, right after “she” took the WH? A hit list ya think?

Does this mean you’ll be drinkinb your bourbon hot now? Right next to the ole saki? During WWII I don’t think the boys knew the diff between saki and bug spray huh? 😉
Well I guess it don’t matter much now for some cause in the good ole Amerika just isn’t the same either! Maybe they’lll be buying your island Grunt?

China has been doing the next best thing. They’ve been buying up our agricultural companies and farmland. How long before we have nothing American-owned left of value? No other country is stupid enough to allow it’s national treasures to be sold off. Free market has limits. You don’t sell your children.

Freedom, I don’t know how you put up with having that clown in charge in VA. Between him in Richmond and OBlowMe on the other side of the Potomac, it’s getting downright creepy around there. Not that it’s much better here in this blue state.

Today is the first official work day for McAwful. I am not looking forward to these next 4 years. I’m so disappointed in my fellow Virginians for electing this idiot into office. Unless the Repubs and some of the conservative Dems up there in Richmond can unite to stop him from implementing some of his insane progressive ideas, VA will turn into a broke, progressive hellhole, undoing all the good things that McDonnell accomplished. 😡

Pretty much. I don’t mean to denigrate masons of good will, but whenever I hear them defend their brotherhood, or hear women defend their mason fathers or brothers, it usually comes down to the same thing: “He started from nothing, but after he joined the masons, he became a millionaire.” There’s nothing wrong with financial success, but it seems to me that the real #1 there is Mammon. And I do have a problem with that.

There are lots of good, patriotic, conservative folks who are masons, and indeed, most of the founders were masons. I don’t mean to put anybody down – only to express my own preference for a more direct emphasis on Christian brotherhood.

My comment about “millionaires” actually came from one of the women over on the Tree when they were discussing Rainbow Girls last year.

I believe it. Most of the dudes I know in lodges are that way, and I approve. But I’ve always had a hard time figuring out with the lodges are really “about.” When I ask, I get answers like “brotherhood” or “financial security” or “tradition.” But in my mind, all those things are what churches are for. Otherwise, what’s the “cause” or “purpose” or “thing” behind the whole movement. I just don’t understand it. Why be in a lodge rather than be an elder at your church, or a Knight of Columbus or a Christian business club? Nobody’s been able to answer that yet. And the secrecy bothers me, but it’s not necessarily a deal-breaker.

Because, Grunt, sometimes knowledge and thinking had to be free of both Church and State. Both can be terribly corrupt at the same time. It’s hard to point to anyone thing, anymore, and say “This is what the lodges are about!” Some have become social fraternities, and are full of honorable, God-fearing men. Some are involved in some hinky stuff.

From what I’ve seen and my own, personal studies, I’d say that, originally, they were created to preserve certain ideas and thoughts in a world often hostile to those ideas. Both Church and State have had historical problems, especially when it comes to some of the Founding Ideas of this Nation (regarding Social Contracts, God-Given Rights of Individuals, etc. . .). Washington, Franklin, et al. built the foundation of this country upon those ideas, thus allowing them into the open again, and structure the foundational law (Constitution, Bill of Rights) to keep both Church and State from interfering too much. Marketplace of Ideas is a rather recent concept, in historical terms. . .

A lot of the symbolism also overlaps with my studies in alchemy, which points to a far, far older tradition being involved somewhere along the line. The basic idea of alchemy is so Christian-friendly it blows my mind sometimes, but misunderstandings are so easy, and politics makes all things damnable . . . anyway, with a few exceptions, for many centuries the stream of alchemic tradition was an underground stream often misrepresented by charlatan “puffers” who sought only to turn Pb into Au. I suspect that at one point, the Masons had a hand in preserving as much of the “clear” stream as possible, until the social and cultural environments were safe for the larger re-release of the tradition.

One of the big problems, I think, is that there are different types of Masons, both on this Continent and in Europe. All traditions get a bit corrupted as the inevitable effect of Entropy/ Original Sin, but some get more corrupted than others. I think there are some types that are Bad News, and some that are Not a Problem. Lumping them all together is as senseless as pointing to All Christians, or even All Catholics, and saying “Look! All Catholics are __________!”

But. . . that’s just from what I’ve seen. I am a bad Catholic, after all, so that should be remembered when reading what I have to say on such matters . . . :p 😉

Very well said, and I suspect you’re right about it being necessary to be free from both Church and State in your thinking sometimes. Unfortunately, there’s no reason to believe a “free-thinking” organization, like freemasonry, can remain free of corruption or group-think or evil influences any more than any other can. Is it better? In some places and times I have no doubt it could be. Perhaps the American version IS better than others.

Don’t get me wrong, even my support of “Church,” like GFC’s, is a skeptical one. It’s been corrupt and will continue to wrestle with corruption, just like all groups. We need freedom from that, and subsidiarity is good in all things. I guess since I don’t know the true origins of masonry, I harbor more skepticism than I do for other groups, especially since it’s “free-thinking” aspects are associated with some bad things in Europe, like iconoclasm, the enlightenment, French Revolution, anti-clericalism, etc.

I have a problem with it! Why would any Christian want to be ordained, join, initiated etc….into any group, foundation or any other fraternity type organization that does not have it’s foundation and principles, laid out in stone, from God. When is man going to finally see and recognize from HISTORY that he is of fallen “nature”? Men must be governed and their governor must be firmly rooted by God’s guidelines and not by mans. Because man is of fallen nature he must have a ruling guideline that must not change. Look at the corruption of power and what power leads man to? Does not power likely lead man astray? Even when his original intentions may have been for good? Look at “Mother Church” even when she is/has been under the golden rules she has gone astray and power was usually the culprit. Even Ignatius of Loyola, one man who formed the Jesuits one of the greatest and strongest organizations of all times, had to be consoled by his good friend Francis Xavier because he could see the seeds of destruction had already begun, before his death, from his own followers because they wanted to change his “rules”, for his Jesuits, because they complained that it was too strict and hard. Ignatius said they should never change his original rules or bad consequences would follow (I hear the voices our Founding Fathers ringing in my ears about never changing ….). But of course he was just a man for that time and of course we progressives have to change things because times change? I look at what has happened in our own Church. In the beginning the Church was the people and the servants were the priest or should we remind ourselves of how it should be by rereading the last supper when Christ told his apostles how it should be, and after Constantine initiated or empowered the “institution” of the Church with power that it soon was headed for what man does best….his fallen nature and corruption of power. We see corruption of power in all the high places. So why would anyone who has the Light of Christ in his eyes and ears want to follow anyone who didn’t have God’s rules to follow. I sure as heck wouldn’t! When will we learn? I am not saying all these things are bad or wrong. I’m saying I already follow the greatest and most powerful group in the world Governed by Christ words, actions and deeds. This is enough for me. All else would be gray! Even if I don’t understand it all…I don’t have too because I already know the TRUTH! If I trust in that Truth then I will find the Way with His Light to guide me. Even Alinsky thought his way was the right one and they all fall prey to the same fallen nature. That is why no organization that does not have it’s foundation rooted in Christ is not worthy of a Christian. Of course everything has it’s degrees…..:(

I understand what you mean. I’m not 100% sure what it’s about, either. I know it’s steeped in history, tradition and ritual. You have to go through a lot to become a Mason, it’s not like joining a gym or a fraternity. My FIL had a Masonic rite, for a lack of a better term, performed at his funeral. I thought it was kind of weird and confusing, but Hubby seemed to understand all of it. The secrecy is kinda weird but I do know that there’s a lot of misinformation and rumors out there, however, the majority of the Masons I know of seem to be okay with that.

I’m sympathetic about that, and I really don’t want to go around condemning what I don’t understand. I admit I don’t understand it, so I shouldn’t condemn. I hate it when others easily condemn things before they’ve taken the time to get past the lies. Also, this is so deeply historical, there’s a lot to digest before you can really understand.

On the flip side, I think I’d want to know more than “those guys all seem ok” before joining a 3000-year-old organization, you know?

“The Russian daily Izvestia reported Monday that Kalashnikov, who died last month at 94, wrote to Patriarch Kirill in April and told him he kept asking himself if he’s responsible.

“The pain in my soul is unbearable. I keep asking myself the same unsolvable question: If my assault rifle took people’s lives that means that I, Mikhail Kalashnikov, … am responsible for people’s deaths,” he said in the letter.

“The longer I live, the more often that question gets into my brain, the deeper I go in my thoughts and guesses about why the Almighty allowed humans to have devilish desires of envy, greed and aggression,” Kalashnikov continued.’

“The Supreme Court on Monday blocked Arizona from enforcing a ban on most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, in the latest blow for states that have tried to enact strict abortion laws.

The high court declined to hear an appeal from Arizona, leaving in place a prior ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that determined the law was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decision effectively strikes down the law.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed the ban into law in April 2012. Nine other states have enacted similar bans starting at 20 weeks or even earlier.”

‘The anxiety could have been caused by the trauma of the crash. But certainly she got out of the plane fine. She was treading water with the help of her deputy director. Fine for quite some time. And then the coldness of the water around, being swished around by the swells in a high north swell situation could’ve caused that situation,’ Dr. Brady said.

It is unknown if Fuddy had previous heart problems, but Dr. Brady says someone who is healthy can have an arrhythmia.”